


Great Responsibility

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Gen, Mentor/Protégé, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 13:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14545731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: They’ve been hurtling toward wherever it is this giant donut in the sky is taking them for almost two hours now, when Tony breaks the nervous silence they’ve seemed to settle into. “Kid.”Parker looks up from fidgeting with the web-shooters on his new suit. “Yeah, Mr. Stark?”“When’s the last time you saw your aunt?”Tony and Peter, en route to Titan.(Minor Infinity War spoilers)





	Great Responsibility

They’ve been hurtling toward wherever it is this giant donut in the sky is taking them for almost two hours now, when Tony breaks the nervous silence they’ve seemed to settle into. “Kid.”

Peter looks up from fidgeting with the web-shooters on his new suit. “Yeah, Mr. Stark?”

“When’s the last time you saw your aunt?”

“This morning, before school.” He pauses. “Don’t worry—I told her that I loved her and everything. And when she sees the spaceship, she’ll figure out what happened. And yeah, she’ll be sad for a while, but—”

“You shouldn’t be here, kid.”

“You’re the one who wanted to make me an Avenger a year-and-a-half ago.”

“And if I recall correctly, you turned me down.”

“Yeah, because I was scared, Coney Island was my first real fight, but—“

“Odds are, this is gonna be a million times worse than that, Parker.”

“I know, but I’ve had a lot of time to get myself ready, and—”

“You think a _year’s_ enough time to get ready for something like this?!”

“A year-and-a-half…”

“God, I forget how young you are.”

“I’m not that young! I’m sixteen!”

Tony buries his face in his hands and rubs his eyes with his palms. “Christ, kid.”

“But look, Mr. Stark, it’s not just that I was scared before. Fighting Liz’s dad made me realize that sometimes the Avengers didn’t look after regular people when they were saving the world, and I wanted to be able to do that, and I didn’t know if I could as an Avenger. No offense,” Peter adds hastily. “But sometimes you gotta do big things to look after the little guy, right?”

“Pete—”

“No, listen, Mr. Stark. I was ten years old when the Battle of New York happened. And I was so scared. But my aunt was more scared. The only other time I’ve ever seen her like that was when my uncle died. And I promised myself that if something like that ever happened again, I’d protect her. Well, since I got my powers, I _can_ protect her, and _everyone_. And if I can, I have to.” He pause again. “I mean, isn’t that why _you_ flew the nuke through the wormhole in New York?”

Tony’s head jerks up. “Honest to God, I thought I was gonna _die_ doing that, kid—”

“Yeah, so I—”

“ _And_ I did it so that no one else would have to! Especially not someone like you.”

“What’s wrong with someone like—”

“Piece of advice, Parker. Stop trying to be like me. I can tell you from experience: it doesn’t work out so well.”

“What are you talking about? You’re a hero!” And he looks at Tony with such earnestness, such admiration, that Tony has to turn away.

“Part of me wants to say screw the rest of it, and turn this thing around to take you home, but I…” Tony exhales in an angry puff. “I’ve seen what could happen, and I can’t risk bringing this Thanos guy to Earth. Even for you, kid.”

“It’s okay, Mr. Stark. I’m with you.”

Tony sighs. “I know you are.” After a moment, he continues: “Now, you should get some rest while you can.”

For his part, Tony walks to the front of the ship and gazes out at space, tries not to think about what exactly it is that he’s leading Peter into.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I live for comments!


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